Letter: William Mayne obituary

Stephanie Nettell writes: As the interviewer who did in fact molest William Mayne's solitary peace (obituary, 6 April), I would be sad if his poker-faced, teasing humour were to be seen as curmudgeonly. Yes, he could be obstinately awkward, but he was more often welcoming, generous and idiosyncratically funny, and I cannot be alone in treasuring marvellous letters that could have come from no one else.

Before the iron curtain of his conviction for indecent assault on young girls came down, he was cherished in his parish for his multitude of administrative functions and simple acts of good neighbourliness. Even in prison, he was soon answering more than 500 letters "to indicate I'm not forgotten".

It is inconceivable to his friends that he could be predatory, striking us as more asexual and childlike than anything, but whatever the truth of that, it was ludicrous that his entirely innocent books should be punished with the man. In an age where accessibility has become the only goal, today's youngsters could only be nourished by his quirky genius.